1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for data processing in general, and in particular to a method and system for attenuating audio data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for selectively and variably attenuating audio data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, home theater systems have become more pervasive in the consumer electronics market; and home video enthusiasts are constantly demanding better performance in their new home theater systems. Catering to this ever increasing demand, there have been tremendous technological improvements in home theater systems, such as digital versatile disks (DVD), wide-screen televisions, surround sound(trademark) audio systems, etc. All this enhanced video and audio equipment is intended to provide an audience with a theater-like feel during a video presentation at their own home. For example, with DVDs and a well-equipped surround sound(trademark) audio system, a home audience can experience various sound effects from a movie playing in a home theater system as if he were watching the same movie in a theater.
Be that as it may, one of the many aspects of a video presentation that a home theater system must handle is the volume control for the audio portion of the presentation. For example, in an action-oriented movie, there is a great amplitude difference between the loudest and quietest passages in the movie. As a result, if the volume level of the audio system is set at a relatively high level such that the typically quiet dialogue can be intelligible, then the scenes including loud sound effects, such as explosions and car chases, will be too loud for the home audience or annoy other people such as a next door neighbor. Sometimes, extremely high amplitude audio output may even cause speaker damage. If, on the other hand, the volume level is adjusted to a relatively low level, then the softly spoken dialogue may not be easily discernable. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a method to perform a dynamic audio range compression of audio data, such that high amplitude audio data get compressed by a user-selectable amount while low amplitude audio data remain unaffected.
In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for data processing.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for attenuating audio data.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for selectively and variably attenuating audio data.
In accordance with a method and system of the present invention, a high-volume control value as selected by a user is first received, and this high-volume control value defines a volume output level for high amplitude audio samples. An attenuation factor is then determined by utilizing the high-volume control value. Each sample from an incoming audio data stream is conditionally attenuated with the attenuation factor such that high amplitude audio data get compressed while low amplitude audio data remain unaffected. Finally, the attenuated samples are sent to an output.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.